13. Commitments and Contingencies

The Company is a defendant in various lawsuits as a result of normal operations and in the ordinary course of business. Management believes the outcome of these lawsuits will not have a material effect on our financial position or results of operations.

Our operations are subject to extensive federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations relating to environmental matters. Certain environmental laws can impose joint and several liabilities for releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances upon certain statutorily defined parties regardless of fault or the lawfulness of the original activity or disposal. Hazardous substances and adverse environmental effects have been identified with respect to real property we own and on adjacent parcels of real property.

In particular, our Elmira, NY manufacturing facility is located within the Kentucky Avenue Wellfield on the National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites designated for cleanup by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") because of groundwater contamination. The Kentucky Avenue Wellfield Site (the "Site") encompasses an area which includes sections of the Town of Horseheads and the Village of Elmira Heights in Chemung County, NY. In February 2006, the Company received a Special Notice Concerning a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study ("RI/FS") for the Koppers Pond (the "Pond") portion of the Site. The EPA documented the release and threatened release of hazardous substances into the environment at the Site, including releases into and in the vicinity of the Pond. The hazardous substances, including metals and polychlorinated biphenyls, have been detected in sediments in the Pond.

Until receipt of this Special Notice in February 2006, the Company had never been named as a potentially responsible party ("PRP") at the Site nor had the Company received any requests for information from the EPA concerning the Site. Environmental sampling on our property within this Site under supervision of regulatory authorities had identified off-site sources for such groundwater contamination and sediment contamination in the Pond, and found no evidence that our operations or property have contributed or are contributing to the contamination. We have notified all appropriate insurance carriers and are actively cooperating with them, but whether coverage will be available has not yet been determined and possible insurance recovery cannot now be estimated with any degree of certainty.

A substantial portion of the Pond is located on our property. The Company, along with Beazer East, Inc., the Village of Horseheads, the Town of Horseheads, the County of Chemung, CBS Corporation and Toshiba America, Inc., the PRPs, have agreed to voluntarily participate in the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study ("RI/FS") by signing an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order of Consent on September 29, 2006. On September 29, 2006, the Director of Emergency and Remedial Response Division of the EPA, Region II, approved and executed the Agreement on behalf of the EPA. The PRPs also signed a PRP Member Agreement, agreeing to share the cost of the RI/FS study on a per capita basis.

The EPA approved the RI/FS Work Plan in May of 2008. On September 7, 2011, the PRPs submitted the draft Remedial Investigation Report to the EPA and on January 10, 2013, the draft Feasibility Study.

The draft Feasibility Study identified alternative remedial actions with estimated life-cycle costs ranging from $0.7 million to $3.4 million. We estimate that our portion of the potential costs range from $0.1 million to $0.5 million. Based on the current estimated costs of the various remedial alternatives now under consideration by the EPA, we have recorded a reserve of $0.2 million for the Company's share of remediation expenses at the Pond as of December 31, 2013. This reserve is reported as an accrued expense on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

We believe, based upon information currently available that, except as described in the preceding paragraphs, we will not have material liabilities for environmental remediation. Though the foregoing reflects the Company's current assessment as it relates to environmental remediation obligations, it is possible that future remedial requirements or changes in the enforcement of existing laws and regulations, which are subject to extensive regulatory discretion, will result in material liabilities to the Company.

We lease space for some of our manufacturing, sales and service operations with lease terms up to 10 years and use certain office equipment and automobiles under lease agreements expiring at various dates. Rent expense under these leases totaled $3.2 million, $3.0 million and $2.5 million, during the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, respectively.

At December 31, 2013, future minimum payments under non-cancelable operating leases are as follows:

Year	Amounts

	(in thousands)
2014	$	2,481
2015		1,493
2016		960
2017		550
2018		181
Thereafter		89


Total	$	5,754

The Company has entered into written employment contracts with its executive officers. The current effective term of the employment agreements is one year and the agreements contain an automatic, successive one-year extension unless either party provides the other with 60 days prior notice of termination. In the case of a change in control, as defined in the employment contracts, the term of each officer's employment will be automatically extended for a period of two years following the date of the change in control. These employment contracts also provide for severance payments in the event of specified termination of employment, the amount of which is increased upon certain termination events to the extent such events occur within a twelve month period following a change in control.